I love the fabric flower headbands that you see popping up now….but I am super picky about the way the flowers are rolled. I was determined to find a way to make them in a shabby chic style but with minimal sewing! Here’s my tutorial on how I make mine:

Materials Needed:
Fabri-Tac or other tacky fabric adhesive
Chenille Pipe Cleaners
Felt
Head Band
Glue Gun
Fabric Scraps

To make a flower, first I start by connecting two chenille pipe cleaners together. I’ve found that two make the perfect size flower:

For each flower you need a 20″ x 2″ fabric scrap. Start by putting a long bead of Fabri-Tac along the strip:

Starting at one end start rolling the fabric around the pipe cleaner. The key is not to roll to tight or too perfect….just kind of haphazardly roll your fabric up:

If you run out of fabric before you get the pipe cleaners covered just add another piece in as you go:

Once the pipe cleaner is covered with fabric, start at one end and begin rolling the flower into a spiral shape, adding in a small bead of Fabri-Tac every few inches as you go:

You’ll develop your own technique for rolling as you go….I have kind of a roll, roll, then twist technique to make mine look a little fuller and shabby:

As you get to the end of your flower, tuck the “tail” under the flower with a dab of Fabri-Tac and use a small clothespin to secure. Let the Fabri-Tac set for about 30 minutes.

I like to mix all different textures of fabrics….one of these flowers was a cotton gauze, one part of a upcycled golf shirt and another was some floral knit.

You can make ribbon “leaves” by twisting pieces of ribbon, secure with a pin, and add a dab of Fabri-Tac:

Once all of your flowers have had time to set, add a large amount of Fabri-Tac to the bottom of each flower but keeping about 1/4″ to 1/2″ away from the edge of the flower:

Place your flowers down onto a piece of felt in the shape that you prefer:

Add in your ribbon leaves between the flowers and felt before the glue has a chance to set, adding more Fabri-Tac if needed:

My favorite part? I like to “mash” all the flowers together for about a minute so that they don’t look too perfectly round and so that they form into one another. With the pipe cleaners inside and the Fabri-Tac they will retain some of this “mashed” shape once you let go:

One your glue has set, carefully trim the felt around the flowers so it isn’t visible when the flowers are right side up:

Take your headband and determine where you want it placed and using a disappearing ink pen, mark either side:

Add hot glue along the entire length of felt……

….and press your headband into place:

Your finished no-sew fabric flower headband! It might take some practice until you get it just right but you’ve got to start somewhere!

A perfect addition to any outfit:

A fun way to experiment with different knits, fabrics and textures!